Today is Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day and I am taking a strong and defiant stance and not allowing it here. Instead, I am going to ask my cats a question, because I really need the answer to something. And before any fur starts to fly, let me assure you I am not being mean or unfair. Read more

To see our special scary graphic in it’s full glory, please click  image to enlarge!

Halloween!! A day to dress up as a cat… oh wait… that’s every day for me! Well… I guess it’s a day to dress up like a cat, but without any excuses!

Have a great day everyone – if you go out, please be safe, especially as this is a weekend and goodness knows how long the festivities will last. Keep your cats and dogs (and other assorted species of pets) out of harms way – keep your critters indoors if you can and if you have pets that like to sneak out the door, please keep them locked up for the night so that they accidentally don’t get out. No one wants to loose a pet on Halloween (or any day)… that would be the worst trick ever…

Thank you to everyone who so generously donated to the Riverfront Cats Fundraiser and Giveaway. As a result of your kindness, Riverfront Cats will be able to spay and neuter newly discovered cats and also provide veterinary care for those cats that are sick or injured.

I am also pleased to announce the winner of our giveaway is Laura Zaccardi of the blog Squeedunk Whiskers & Warehouses. Laura is one of the kindest, most compassionate, devoted, and humble people I know and I am so happy for her. She is also the co-founder of PAD PAWS –  a non-profit organization specializing in abandoned and injured animals who have taken refuge along the Hudson River (between Battery Park/NYC and Jersey City, NJ). The majority of their rescues include TNR along with re-homing if animals are in a dangerous situation (due to construction sites, urban development and busy city streets) and they also handle all medical costs, adoption, education, rehabilitation, as well as assisting with other local community organizations in rescuing animals and wildlife.

As winter is nearly around the corner, with frigid temperatures eminent, my heart reaches out to Laura. She was so kind to donate to Riverfront Cats, especially as her own organization desperately needs help. If anyone can make a donation to PAD PAWS, please consider doing so. What they really need right now is housing for the rescues until they can get them into foster homes – but that requires cash upfront.  The construction in her neighborhood is taking away all safe havens, creating more opportunity for cats to get hit by cars or tortured or killed at the hands of cat haters (I wish I did not have to write that, but unfortunately it’s the truth).

Thank you again all – you truly are the best!

I have to admit I was not sure I would be going to the Global Pet Expo in Orlando until the last minute. Even once the decision was made, Dan and I questioned the purpose of it – what did I expect to gain from going? Besides the obvious – making new connections, learning about new and innovative cat products, and catching up with friends, I wasn’t sure. I have never gone to a pet expo before and truly didn’t know if it would be a good venue for me to be at.

As with life, I have learned many times there is a greater purpose to our being, we just don’t know it at the time and you have to let it all unfold on its own. Seeing Mr. Jazz in spirit form in the doorway of my office last week, my draw to feral cat advocacy, and my ultimately deciding to go to the expo, but this time with Dan rather than on my own… there was to be a significant connection to it all. Read more

This was Gracie, one of the Loews cats at her feeding station that was built by hotel employees to keep the cats sheltered and protected. Gracie is no longer with us, having passed on, nor are these iconic cat mansions that have been taken apart by Loews to be destroyed in the trash.

Ironically, it was a year ago that I began blogging about feral cats when I became involved in trying to save the small colony of outdoor cats residing on the once pet-friendly Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. They were part of a very successful and managed Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for over twelve years, but due to unyielding management mandates, they were eventually trapped and removed from the premises for relocation, despite the massive outpouring of concern from citizens and cat advocacy groups to keep them on the property.

While it may seem like a loss on the surface, in the long run it was a victory for feral cats. The visibility of the story brought the misconceptions of feral cats to a broader audience and it has become much more commonplace to see groups advocating for these animals. One such enterprise is the NYC Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals which is holding its Third Annual Architects for Animals Giving Shelter fundraiser and benefit. Read more

While today may be Wordless Wednesday, more importantly, today is my sweet little Zee’s 6th Birthday!! I hope you will all take a quick minute to send your birthday love to him on this special day, because he really is a special cat in every sense of the word. He has filled not only my life with absolute love, joy, devotion, and companionship, but that of Dan, his beloved Zoey, and his children Mia, Peanut, and Rolz, who adore the ground he walks on. I could talk about this sweet boy for days on end, but suffice it to say he is one of the most amazing creatures I have ever had the pleasure to share my life with.

Have a great day my special boy!! Love from human Mom and Dad, Zoey, Mia, Peanut, Rolz, Jazz, and Harley!! (And your son from Boston, Zeuss Catt)